On a visit to London, chief executive of Walt Disney, Robert Iger, told the paper that ESPN - the company's sports broadcaster - was its second principal brand after the Disney name itself and indicated that he hoped to expand it globally.
“I know they [ESPN] will look at the Premier League rights again, both individually and in partnership with others,” Mr Iger said.
He added that ESPN's coverage of Euro 2008 had proved extremely popular, with Disney choosing to air the semi-finals and the final on its mainstream ABC network. Senior executives of the broadcaster believe that the arrival of David Beckham in the United States at the LA Galaxy had helped to lift interest in the sport in the one leading country that has largely ignored the world's game until recently.
ESPN is understood to be interested in capitalising on the growing audience for football in the United States, where the rights to show Premier League games are currently held by Fox, the broadcaster owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times.
The next auction of Premier League broadcast rights is due to start next January.
